Improvement in gas-burners



O. TIRRILL.

Gas-Burner.

No. 220,736. Patented Oct. 21, 1879.

qNI TED Snares PATENT OFFICE.

OAKES rInnILL, or BROOKLYN, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GAS-BURNERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 220,736, dated October21, 1879; application filed July 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OAKES TIRRILL, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kingsand State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Gas-Burners, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention is more particularly calculated for burning that varietyof illuminatinggas produced by impregnating atmospheric air with .thevapor of liquid hydrocarbons, and which, with the burners hitherto inuse, has given only an unsteady flame liable to the extremes of smokingand flickering.

The said invention consists in a novel construction of annular burner,whereby the internal and external drafts to the flame are so accuratelybalanced that the tension, so to speak, upon the flame is uniform andcontinuous at all parts thereof, from which there results an equableflame not liable to smoke or waver under any ordinary circumstances.

Figure 1 is a plan; Fig. 2, a vertical section Fig. 3, a perspectiveview of the burner made according to my said invention; and Fig.

4is aplan view, representing a slight modiflcation thereof. I

A is ahollow annulus or ring, connected with the gas-supply tube B bybranch tubes 0, which latter also serve to support the annulus A. Thesupply-tube may be attached in place for use by means of itsinternally-threaded socket a. Formed at equal distances apart in the topor upper side of the annulus are slots or long narrow openings 1), theposition and relative arrangement of which are more clearly shown inFig. 1. These long and narrow openings 11 are not only equidistant, butare of uniform length. The length of the said openings b is such thatthe volume of gas issuing therefrom will not be sufficient to cause theedges of the several jets to impinge against each other, or sufficientto require more air to support combustion than can be supplied by thenormal draft up through the annulus and around the circumferencethereof.

It is diflicult to lay down a specific rule of proportions, and theexercise of a fair degree of judgment is required to secure in thehighest degree the advantageous results of the invention. The principle,however, on which its operation is based is this: The openings 1) are soproportioned to the volume of air supplied to the flame by the draftwithin and without the annulus, that the said supply will be suflicientto secure the full combustionfor illnmination of all the gas passedthrough the openings b, at the same time that the draft itself is soequalized with reference to the jet, separately and collectively, thatits drawing action or tension is alike on all sides of each jet, andalike both within and out-side of the annular series of jets consideredas a whole, from which it follows that the tendency of the jets, will beuniformly upward without flickering or irregularity.

The invention may perhaps be further exemplified by saying that theflames of the burner do not constitute collectively a single flame, aswould be the case if the openings 1) were so close together that theedges of the flames would impinge and connect one with another; neitherdo they constitute a mere series of independent flames, eachuninfluenced by the character of its adjacent or neighboring flames; butit comprises in its operation a co-operating system of flames, each oneof which in burning has an effect upon the draft, which affects theothers; or, to change the form of expression, the invention consists inso combining burners for producing separate flames in the manner thatcauses each flame to modify the other, that the aggregate of action uponthe separate flames is to produce the result of steadiness and freedomfrom flickering upon all. This may be further illustrated by comparisonwith the burners hereinafter disclaimed. That shown in the patent ofGale has an annular series of separate burners formed with slots or longopenings, which arelongitudinally radial to the axis of the device, thisarrangement bringing the flames with their flat sides toward each other,a position inconsistent with the operation and results of my invention,inasmuch as each of the radial flames is unaffected by the presence ofits neighbors, and would remain the same in volume and character if allthe others were extinguished.

In the device shown in the patent of Cremin the jets issue horizontallyfrom the outer citcumference of the burner, each unaffected by itsneighbors, and with the flames unatl'ected, separately or collectively,by any draft, the modus operandi being substantially that of severalordinary horizontal burners arrange around acommon axis.

When desired the long narrow openings may be substituted each by a rowof small perforations, c, as represented in Fig. 4, the m0- dus operandiof this modification, however, being substantially the same as that ofthe apparatus, as herein first described.

I do not claim an annular series of independent radial bnrners, as shownin the patent of M. F. Gale, June 17, 1873. Neither do I claim a seriesof horizontal burners arranged on the outer circumference of an annulartube, as shown in the patent of J. N. Uremin, September 7, 1869, saiddevices, as hereiubefore explained, being different from my invention instructure, principle,and operation. Neither do I claim an annularburncrconstructed with a continuous series of perforations in its upperside and designed to provide a cylindrical or hollow or continuouslycircular flame, such being different in principle and construction frommy said invention, and incapable of producing the peculiarlyadvantageous results achieved by my said invention; but,

What I do claim as my invention is-- The burner composed of the hollowannulus A, having in its top or uppermost side the long and narrowopenings b, or the equivalent thereof, said openings being substantiallyconcentric with the axis of the annulus, of equal size, and placed atequal distances apart, to insure an equal tension of vertical draft atthe inner and outer sides of the flames, and between said flames, allsubstantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

OAKES TIRRILIJ.

Witnesses:

JAMES A. WHITNEY, HENRY F. PARKER.

